


Fireflies

by TheMysteriousStoryteller



Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bugs & Insects, Comedy, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Uh yeah its just funby and dumby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2020-05-15 20:47:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19303549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMysteriousStoryteller/pseuds/TheMysteriousStoryteller
Summary: I'd like to make myself believe that planet Earth turns slowly.





	Fireflies

**Author's Note:**

> Oh my God! It's a fic that isn't depressing or dark! I know, shocker shocker. Sorry for the slow uploads, I've been in a bit of a writing slump. I've just been kinda feeling like my writing basically like. Sucks. But...I liked how this one turned out kinda. I hope you guys like it, too. As usual, comments are appreciated! I hope to get some more fics out soon, so look forward to that! Have a lovely day! :3

To be honest, Edd was never particularly fond of summer. 

Now, this wasn’t to say that Edd hated summer. He loved not having school; being able to spend more time with his friends(even though that was gay); and enjoyed the slightly cooler and much prettier summer nights. However, there were as many bad things about summer as there were good. First of all, the heat could get excruciating at times, which meant that wearing long-sleeved shirts and jackets was more uncomfortable and noticeable. To add on, the heat meant that every bug that existed on God’s green earth would come out to play, much to Edd’s dismay. Who even  _ invented  _ bugs, anyway? They should be sued for crimes against humanity. Anyway, the point was that summer kind of sucked in plenty of ways. 

But right now, in this moment, Edd didn’t mind the summer too much. 

A few hours ago, Tom had asked him to go out on a little night walk with him; it was a date, basically, but Edd refused to call it that. He found it ironic that Tom —the same guy who was too anxious to talk to a cashier at a store—was going to go out on a walk during the dead of night. Although, Edd wouldn’t complain; he needed something to do, anyway. And, as gay as it was to admit, he liked spending time with Tom. So, he agreed to go out with him. 

The two met up at Edd’s house and started their walk together in silence. The silence didn’t last long, though, when Edd spoke up and asked Tom a question. 

“Soooo, did you have a place in mind you wanted to go?”

“Maybe,” Tom absentmindedly replied. 

“‘Maybe’?” Edd quoted with a scoff. “Not too helpful, Tom.”   
  
“Sorry,” Tom muttered. “I just...there was a place I kinda wanted to show you, but…”

“But what?”   
  
“I dunno, you might think it’s dumb, or somethin’.” Tom let out a laugh to play his anxiety off. 

“Well, everything you do is dumb,” Edd joked with a chortle. “But, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”   
  
“Okay.” The small conversation ended there, and the two continued to walk. Edd, desperate to break the silence, asked another question. 

“So, where’re you taking me?” 

“Uh...well, there was a cool field I saw a bit ago. You can like, see a lot of stars since it’s so far away from any other light pollution.”   
  
“What the fuck is light pollution?”   
  
“You’ve...never heard of light pollution?”   
  
“No! I thought only, like, smoke and shit like that could cause pollution!”   
  
“Well, light can do it too. It just kinda...makes the sky look really bright, even though it’s dark. And...it makes it really hard to see stars,” Tom explained. Edd let out a hum, looking up at the sky. Since they were around so many buildings, he could see what the other was talking about: the sky looked like a smoky gray instead of its usual black, and the only white dots he could see were the flashing, moving ones of passing airplanes. 

“Huh,” Edd eventually said, looking over at Tom. 

“Yeah. But, we won’t have to worry about that in the field!” Tom stated with confidence.   
  
“So...we’re walking pretty far, huh? Since we have to get away from all the buildings and stuff?” Edd questioned.   
  
“Not too far!” Tom reassured.   
  
“If I get tired, you better carry me.” 

“What?” Tom let out a huff. “I can’t carry you!”   
  
“Yeah, I know. You got noodle arms.” Edd let out a giggle at his own statement, making Tom laugh as well, even if the joke was kind of at his expense. 

“Hey!” Tom yelled through his laughter. 

“I’m right!” 

Edd’s laughter eventually calmed down, and Tom’s did shortly after. They continued to walk in mostly silence, except for Tom making a stupidly obvious comment every once in a while. 

“I hear crickets,” Tom commented after a bit. 

“Yeah, I do too. I’m sure anyone with ears could,” Edd replied with a roll of his eyes. Tom, unable to see his boyfriend’s eye roll, continued. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cricket. I’ve always wondered what they tasted like.”   
  
Edd sputtered. “What...the fuck?” Honestly, he shouldn’t have been so surprised. After all, this was the same guy that once ate a spider in class and made poor Tord faint and poor Edd throw up in his mouth a bit. Still, the thought of Tom eating a cricket made him shudder. 

“Well, yeah! I mean, I wonder if it’d be like spiders where—”   
  
“Tom. For the sake of my health, I’m taking the emergency exit on this conversation,” Edd cut him off. 

“Oh.” Tom hummed, catching the hint for once. “Okay. Should I switch the topic, then?”   
  
“Uh, yeah," Edd answered, a huff being mixed into the end of the response.    
  
“Okay! Uh...sometimes I can’t sleep ‘cause of the crickets.”   
  
“That wasn’t exactly switching the topic, but okay. When  _ do  _ you sleep, anyway?” Edd pointed out. 

“When I’m tired?” Tom replied as if it was an obvious answer. Edd was then sure that Tom was completely unaware of his own terrible sleeping habits. Knowing Tom, Edd wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case. 

“So...are you just never tired?” Edd eventually asked. 

“Uhm...yeah, I guess.” Tom shrugged. Edd gave a soft sigh, and even though Tom seemed rather unsure, he decided not to push it. God, if he had a pound for every time he lectured Tom about getting more sleep, he’d have enough money to afford a therapist. 

_ “On second thought, maybe I should lecture him about it more,”  _ Edd thought to himself, bringing his sleeve up to his mouth to muffle his chortle.

Silence fell upon the two again. The only sounds that they could hear were the soft rustling of the leaves and grass, and the chirping of crickets that was really starting to get on Edd’s nerves. Edd glanced behind them, noticing how all of the buildings and street lights were beginning to fade out into the distance. He looked back at Tom and squinted, trying to get a look at the other’s face. With only the moonlight acting as his light to see, it was hard to make out any specific features. However, Tom seemed rather calm, even as they were moving away from civilization. Seeing someone so naturally anxious seem so calm...it made Edd feel a little calmer, as well. It wasn’t his usual calmness, either. Rather than being calm because he was apathetic, he simply felt relaxed and content. He didn’t know the exact cause of it, but he did know that he could get used to this feeling. 

“Here we are,” Tom softly announced. He looked over at Edd, who was still walking forward. Swiftly, he grabbed the other’s arm, making Edd yelp and stop. 

“Hey! What the fuck was—” Edd’s question was silently answered by Tom pointing his finger straight down. Edd looked down, seeing that they were now on a hill that overlooked a large field. One more step, and he would’ve gone tumbling down. “...Oh.”   
  
“Sorry for grabbing you like that,” Tom apologized, letting go of Edd’s arm. “I just didn’t expect you to keep walking.”   
  
“Yeah, yeah...it’s fine,” Edd mumbled, rubbing the area on his arm where Tom grabbed him. “Ya just scared the hell out of me.”   
  
“Sorry,” Tom apologized again, sitting down on the hill. Edd sat next to him. 

“So...this was the place you wanted to show me?” Edd questioned, to which Tom replied with a nod. Edd let out a hum, and looked down past the hill to the field. With the soft, white light from the moon, he could see that the grass was much longer, swaying in the direction of where the wind blew like thin, green ribbons. The bright yellow lights of the fireflies were also visible, flickering around in every area that Edd could see. However, Edd tried to not focus on them, and instead looked up at the night sky. The sky was clear, making the moon seem even brighter than usual. The stars, now being visible, dotted the sky. Occasionally, Edd would still also catch the blinking lights of airplanes

Now that he got a good look, Edd could see why Tom would like this place. But, for him, he always had the night sky in the eyes of his boyfriend. After that thought appeared in his mind, he let out a soft huff, his cheeks growing red and hot. That wasn’t gay to say or think, though! It was just true! To prove it to himself, he looked over at Tom, who looked back at him. There, in the black voids known as Tom’s eyes, were small, white dots that twinkled exactly like the stars that were currently scattered in the sky. Edd always found himself staring into them; they were so unique, much like Tom himself. In moments like this, Edd was made aware of how lucky he was to know someone like Tom. 

“This is, uhm…” Edd looked back down at the field before he finished. “...nice.” 

“Yeah, I like going here to relax and stuff,” Tom agreed. “Usually I ride my bike here and just...sit down and take a deep breath and just...chill.” Tom seemed to demonstrate his explanation to Edd by taking a deep inhale through his nose, a sigh just as deep leaving him a few seconds later. Edd mimicked him, taking a deep inhale right as a strong breeze blew past them. His lungs were filled to the brim with fresh air, and it almost felt suffocating to take in such a deep breath. When he let it go, he felt as if he was letting everything go, and even slumped down a bit. He was left feeling like a deflated balloon. That feeling made him imagine himself as a giant balloon being deflated slowly and making that high-pitched squealing that balloons make when you let air out of them slowly. Imagining himself as a deflated balloon made him giggle, and Tom looked at him with a raised eyebrow. 

“Sorry, sorry!” Edd apologized through his laughter. “I’m just so fucking funny I make myself laugh sometimes!” 

“Oho,” Tom answered, tacking on a brief laugh of his own. “I see.” 

“Yeah, you better.” When Edd calmed himself down and looked up from his lap, he was suddenly greeted with a flashing yellow light right in front of his face. He let out a squeak and quickly backed away, shaking his head and smacking Tom with a bit of his hair due to their closeness. 

“Ah! What was that for?!” Tom yelled, leaning away from Edd and his stupidly long, girlish hair. 

“Fuckin’—goddamned fireflies!” Edd shouted in reply, still moving back and shaking his head. His hands flew up, swatting blindly at the firefly he couldn’t even see. Tom looked around, seeing the supposedly villainous insect and its blinking yellow light fluttering around where Edd used to be. He chuckled and reached forward, allowing the bug to land on his hand.

“Got it,” he said, pulling his hand back in front of himself to watch the insect move along the back of his hand. 

“You did?” Edd asked quickly, ceasing his thrashing and looking at Tom. Tom turned his head around and nodded. “And you killed it?” He added on. 

“No. He’s just walkin’ around on my hand.”

“What?!” Edd cried out, his eyes narrowing at Tom. “You’re letting it  _ touch  _ you?!”   
  
“Well...yeah. I mean...it’s just a bug.” Tom shrugged. 

“But you’re just—” Edd paused to let out a loud huff. “You’re just letting it walk on you?! Bugs are gross!” 

“I don’t think they’re gross,” Tom replied.

“Well then  _ you’re  _ gross!”   
  
“You’ve told me that before.” Tom frowned and looked back down at the bug. 

“Yeah! ‘Cause it’s true!”   
  
“I think fireflies are pretty.”    
  
“Well, I think they’re gross!” 

“Well, I don’t.” Tom shrugged.

“Ugh, what did I expect?” Edd crossed his arms. “You’re the same guy that eats like, spiders and shit.”   
  
“Yeah! Speaking of—” Without any hesitation, Tom dipped his head down and lapped the firefly up from the back of his hand with his tongue. He quickly ate the bug, leaving Edd utterly mortified. He couldn’t even look away since it all happened so quickly. It was like a car crash; it all happened in an instant, and Edd couldn’t look away no matter how much he wanted to. 

“Did you just—Did you just fucking eat it?!” Edd shrieked. 

“Mhm!” Tom nodded. Edd was stunned into silence, genuinely at a loss for words. The fact that Tom did it so casually and quickly...he could feel the nausea build up in his stomach. 

“You’re so gross!” Edd yelled, moving forward and giving Tom a shove. However, he forgot that he was abnormally strong, and sent Tom tumbling down the hill with a scream. “Oh shit,” he whispered to himself as he watched Tom roll down the hill. The nausea was now even more present and was stabbing at his stomach. He gritted his teeth, a million insults already loaded and aimed toward himself. God, he was so stupid! He probably just severely injured someone he cared about again! Why couldn’t he do things right for just one day?! 

Edd’s self-deprecating thoughts were cut off when he heard distant laughter. “What the…?” He looked down over the hill, barely making Tom out at the bottom of it. His boyfriend was curled up into a ball, laughing his head off. “Tom! Are you okay?! Did you get a concussion or something?!” He yelled, fear still attacking his mind. 

“Yeah! I’m-I’m okay!” Tom yelled back, sitting up and trying to stop his laughter. Edd wanted to question why he was laughing, but wanted to say something else more than anything. 

“I’m sorry! I’m really sorry! I didn’t mean to push that hard, I—” Edd sucked in a sharp breath, feeling tears sting his eyes. “I’ll make it up to you! I promise!” He was already formulating a ton of punishments for himself in his head that he was going to enact when he got home. However, instead of receiving a sharp “yeah you better” from Tom like Edd expected, the other replied, “you can make it up to me by getting your ass down here, too!” Edd tried to search for any hint of hostility in his tone; any sign of anger or even annoyance. But, he found nothing but pure playfulness. He didn’t understand: Tom should hate him! 

“Aren’t you mad at me?!” Edd asked. 

“What? No! Now, get down here or I’ll drag you myself!” 

Edd blinked, raising his arm up to wipe his eyes with his sleeve. He let out a soft chuckle to himself, not really knowing what to expect once he got down there. Maybe Tom was going to kill him before Edd could do it himself. Who knew? Regardless, Edd through all of those feelings aside and threw himself over the hill. 

For a second, he could almost imagine himself as a kid again; rolling down hills with carefree laughter and playful smiles. As soon as he’d hit the bottom, he’d get up and caper about, covered in dirt and grass and shouting, “let’s do it again!” Back then, he didn’t have to worry about anything. Back then, he looked forward to every day; the next time that he’d roll down another hill. Back then, he was happier. 

The warm, nostalgic feeling remained in Edd even as he sat up at the bottom of the hill and looked at Tom. He expected to see a scowl, but was instead greeted with Tom’s classic, stupid smile. That wide, toothy grin with his tongue slightly poking out of his mouth. It was such a lovable smile, and it automatically wiped away Edd’s previous negative feelings and doubts. “No homo, but I’d kiss you right now if you didn’t just eat a firefly a minute ago,” he found himself saying. That made Tom giggle, and that made Edd’s heart flutter for a few moments. 

“That’s fair, I guess,” Tom replied after he stopped laughing. “So, did you wanna stay down here?”   
  
“Sure, as long as you don’t eat any more bugs,” Edd replied. 

“Heh, no promises.” Tom grinned, and Edd found himself grinning back. He may not have what he had years ago, but he figured that maybe he had found something just as good. After all, there were always more hills to roll down. 


End file.
